Former ODOT chief rapped in probe

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2008 at 2:01 PM

It pays to carpool with the boss.

It pays to carpool with the boss.

The traveling partner of the former head of the Ohio Department of Transportation was put on a career fast-track for which she was unqualified and caused headaches and morale problems for the agency, the state inspector general said in a report issued today.

Proctor, a Republican appointed by Gov. Bob Taft, resigned when Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland took office. Varma, also a Republican, was fired from her position and unsuccessfully appealed to get her job back.

Charles' report found that Proctor bypassed normal promotional practices in elevating Varma and giving her a 39 percent raise. It also faulted Proctor for lobbying the Strickland administration to keep Varma in her job.

The inspector general referred two matters to prosecutors: Proctor's lobbying on Varma's behalf after he had left his job, and Varma's post-employment disclosure statement that asserted that she was not working for a company with significant state contracts. In fact, according to Charles' report, she was consulting for a company that drew hundreds of thousands of dollars from the transportation department.

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